At just fifteen, D. Anthony took his first job at a grocery store – after bending the truth on his application. That decision, paired with working his way through college, marked the beginning of his lifelong relationship with grit and self-responsibility. He majored in marketing and computer science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, balancing academics, employment, and his role as guitarist in a rock and heavy metal band.

His band never secured the record deal they envisioned, but the failure didn’t stop him – it redirected him. D. Anthony went on to compose and record ten avant-garde music albums, proof that passion, even when results shift, can evolve into mastery.

After graduation, D. Anthony entered the financial services sector and eventually transitioned into commercial lending. That move proved pivotal – it was where he found statistics, a discipline he would later dominate globally. His analytical ability sparked a new professional identity, one rooted in research-driven decision making.

His career progressed into marketing analytics, but when he was downsized shortly after the birth of his second daughter, everything changed. D. Anthony experienced what he describes as an epiphany: never again would someone else decide whether he had a job or a future.

So, he built one for himself.

With that resolve, he founded Miles Development Industries Corporation®, marking the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey. Passion turned to purpose, and purpose turned to achievement. D. Anthony returned to academics, earning his MBA in International Marketing from Our Lady of the Lake University. Though law school was his initial plan, curiosity led him instead to pursue a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of the Incarnate Word. His excellence led to a doctoral fellowship – one awarded to only 17 students nationwide – and he went on to set a university record for research publication output from a dissertation.

From there, his name began gaining global traction.

1. Anthony became a respected startup expert, a leading marketing expert, and a recognized statistician. He secured government contracts, helped develop master business plans – including one for Brooks City Base, a redeveloped Air Force installation – and began appearing in media interviews. His work led to multiple bestselling books, a research team of nine, and academic presentations across more than 40 national conferences. Today, his research is downloaded and read over 500,000 times on ResearchGate and cited heavily in Google Scholar. Stanford invited him to speak. Harvard followed.

Yet, 2025 marked two milestones that solidified his legacy.

First, D. Anthony led the venture-funded launch of SafeDrop, securing more than $5 million in seed capital as its Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and equity partner. For him, this achievement wasn’t just about funding – it was proof that a struggling product could be transformed with strategy, clarity, and the right leadership.

Second, he became the all-time winningest statistician and researcher in the history of the Academy of Business Research Conference, earning 35 Best Paper Awards – a record that earned him recognition in AmStat Magazine, the official publication of the American Statistical Association.

To D. Anthony, this award was the pinnacle – thirteen years of work culminating in a milestone that, in his words, “trumps anything I have ever accomplished.”

As he looks toward the future of his industry, D. Anthony remains analytical and unapologetically honest. Artificial intelligence, he believes, is reshaping the world of consulting, startups, and data – and not always positively.

“AI is destroying and creating industries at the same time” he says. “We’re moving away from traditional processes to automation that replaces thinking.”

His concern isn’t technology itself – it’s dependency.

“Typing something into Google isn’t knowledge. Reading is a lost art. Knowledge must coexist with AI – not be erased by it.”

In this accelerating future, D. Anthony envisions his organization as a bridge between cutting-edge technology and real-world usability – a firm that clients trust because it understands not just what AI can do, but what industries need.

When asked what message he would leave future leaders, D. Anthony does not offer clichés – he offers truth, delivered with the fire that has defined his journey.

His first lesson:
“Sometimes you have to be a jerk to get things done.”
Not from ego, but from urgency. Excellence requires standards – and not everyone is willing to meet them.

His second lesson:
“You can’t take everyone with you.”
Success, he says, can be lonely – and sometimes the people you outgrow become your critics.

His final lesson is the one that shaped him most:
“Never let anyone define your talent and put limits on your abilities.”

While he was in high school, a counselor told him he wasn’t college material – that he should learn a trade instead. D. Anthony never told his father, the man who made him to attend college. Today, D. Anthony holds a PhD, is a six-time bestselling author, a global thought leader, and a man referred to as the “Father of Forensic Marketing.”

“What if I believed her?” he says. “I wouldn’t be here.”

From a teenage grocery store employee and aspiring musician to one of the world’s most awarded business researchers and innovators – D. Anthony Miles is a testament to ambition, resilience, and the courage to write one’s own definition of success.

And in his story, one message echoes loudly:

Greatness isn’t given – it’s taken.